Nicholas County Library renovation underway

It took two years of apply for grants, working with architects, and tons of paperwork and patience but finally the Carlisle-Nicholas County Public Library renovation is underway. The $700,000 project is being paid for with a $560,000 Rural Development Grant and a loan for $144,000.

The project will include renovating the front of the building located at 223 North Broadway Street, adding automatic doors, making the bathrooms ADA compliant, a second bathroom upstairs, installing an elevator and an addition over the parking lot that will house a new children’s library on the street level and additional meeting rooms on the lower level. The kitchen downstairs, genealogy area and the Broadway Street side entrance stairs will also be remodeled.

The library meeting room with a full kitchen downstairs has been a popular meeting place for the community and is used by the Homemakers, Wild Turkey Federation, Democratic Women and others. The Teen Cuisine program and “Teen Talk” also meet there and use the kitchen. Meeting rooms are available to the public and non-profit programs.

Becky Reid, librarian at Nicholas County Library, is excited to see the changes happening. “We have had the same green carpet in the library since it was first built in 1967. It’s served us well but we’re excited to be able to update our look and add some new furniture and spaces for patrons and the public to meet in going forward,” Reid said.

“Adding the new smaller meeting rooms is something we’ve really needed. We have attorney’s who meet at the library that need private areas and rooms for students to study quietly. The library offers homework help and is very popular with Nicholas County students. College students come in to take online classes and the library also proctors exams here. We’ve also had insurance agents serving the Veterans or medicare professionals that advertise in the paper and meet with residents at the Library,” Reid said.

There may be temporary closures during the process if renovation requires electrical or water shut offs. The contractors agreed to give the staff 48 hours notice to alert the staff and public.

The library will also be closed over the holidays Dec. 23-26 and again Dec. 30-Jan. 2. Patrons can check the library website or Facebook pages for updates. You can also call the library at 859-289-5595.

The renovations are expected to be complete by the end of May 2017.